Turner praises his Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons head coach Paul Turner believes his side can build on their spirited performance against European heavyweights Toulouse at the weekend.

The Heineken Cup Champions made it 11 European wins on the bounce at the Stade Ernest Wallon but the Welsh region made them struggle for the victory and pushed them throughout.

The Dragons were playing only for pride in the South of France with qualification not possible for Turner's men but their performance was packed with character, commitment and passion.

"We can take a lot of pride from what we're trying to achieve, albeit in defeat," said Turner.

"We spoke before the game about the fear factor in rugby when you come to places like Toulouse. If you're unlucky you can be on the wrong end of something bad so I'm really proud of the players' effort.

"It's the closest thing many of our players will get to Test rugby but we produced a really dogged performance.

"We gave them a good run for their money and made them panic at times. We made them look ordinary at times but they have the strength to bring the likes of Florian Fritz and Frederic Michalak off the bench.

"We were disappointed not to show more in attack but, in places like this, against one of the best teams in Europe, you have to defend well.

"But we also needed to show more composure with the ball after working so hard to get our hands on it. You have to make the most of any chances that come your way and we bombed a couple of opportunities so we're disappointed not to get something out of the game.

"We probably deserved more than we got for that performance but we have taken a major step forward and done Wasps a massive favour."

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